Nora Nadjarian (born 1966) is an Armenian–Cypriot poet and short story writer. Writing in English, Armenian, and Greek, Nadjarian's writing has focused on the continued fallout of the 1974 par*ion of Cyprus.

A frequent participant in international compe*ions, poetry festivals, literary conferences and other projects, her poems and short stories have also appeared in numerous anthologies around the world.

The writer has said that her work is inspired by Sylvia Plath and Yehuda Amichai. Paul Celan, Pablo Neruda and Sharon Olds are a few other idols that she has mentioned.

Contents

• 1 Biography
• 2 Critical Review
• 3 Works
  • 3.1 Poetry Books
  • 3.2 Micro Novel
  • 3.3 Short Story Books
  • 3.4 Mini Book
  • 3.5 Other Works (Short Stories and Poems)
• 4 Awards
• 5 Interviews
• 6 Reference List
• 7 Bibliography

Biography

Nora Nadjarian was born in 1966 in Lim*ol, a city on the southern coast of Cyprus. Born to parents who worked in the production of fabrics, Nadjarian is the second generation to be born in Cyprus after her Armenian refugee grandparents moved to Cyprus at the beginning of the 20th century. She first attended an Armenian elementary school, then moved to Foley's Grammar School, a private British school, where she earned her high school degree.

Following her graduation from Foley's, Nadjarian attended Manchester University and earned a degree from the department of modern languages and linguistics. Upon graduating from Manchester, Nadjarian returned to Cyprus and began teaching in Lim*ol and then in Nicosia, where she is currently residing.

She visited her ancestral homeland of Armenia in 1983 which inspired her to write poems based on ethnic iden*y, cultural self-discovery, her Armenian roots and the tragic fate of the nation. She first decided to participate in a compe*ion because of the encouragements of a friend, and after being acknowledged for her poem "Vinegar" (1999–2000) she continued to take part in numerous international compe*ions.

Critical Review

Nora Nadjarian has received international praise for her work, particularly her work focused on the Cyprus par*ion of 1974, iden*y and loss. She has described her work as "political without being polemical" and has written of an ongoing battle in both the physical sense and mind inside the Cypriot heart that is defined by the division in Nicosia between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot sides of the island without taking on a side. She condemns the conflict itself, not the people. Her work is read beyond the Mediterranean borders and can very much be identified with in its search to find what defines one's nationality.

Other reviews can be found at:

• The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/may/01/featuresreviews.guardianreview34

• Cadences

William Macfarlane, review of Nora Nadjarian, Girl, Wolf, Bones (2011), in Cadences 8 (2012), 110–111.

Works

Poetry Books

• The Voice at the Top of the Stairs (2001)
• Cleft in Twain (2003)
• 25 Ways to Kiss a Man (2004)

Micro Novel

• “Republic of Love” (2010)

Short Story Books

• “Ledra Street” (2006) – Translated to Bulgarian by Zhenya Dimova (2011)
• “Girl, Wolf, Bones” (2011)
• "Selfie and Other Stories" (2017)

Mini Book

• The Girl and the Rain (2012)

Other Works (Short Stories and Poems)

• “Three Facts” (2001)
• “When You Return to Ashtarak" (2005)
• "The Young Soldier" (2006)
• “Impossible” (2006)
• “Diaspora” (2008) – Translated to Armenian by Maggie Eskidjian
• “Flying with Chagall” (2009) – Inspired by Marc Chagall's Above the Town (1915)
• “Blue Pear” (2009)
• “Miracle” (2010)
• “The Cheque Republic” (2010)
• “Lizard” (2010) – Included in Valentine’s Day M*acre (2011), edited by Susan Tepper
• “Sparrow” (2010) – Shortlisted in the Seán Ó Faoláin Short Story Compe*ion Prize
• “A Christmas Surprise” (2010)
• “Monday” (2011)
• “The Name” (2012)
• “The Author and the Girl” (2013)
• “Wanderlust” (2013) – Included in The Limerick Writers’ Centre themed Love anthology (2013), published in Ireland
• “Waterfall” – Inspired by Arshile Gorky's The Waterfall (1943)
• “Exhibition” – Included in Best European Fiction (2011), edited by Aleksander Hemon

Many of her poems can be read online through her blog, and some can even be listened to on Lyrikline.

Awards

Nora Nadjarian was among the winners in the Scottish International Open Poetry Compe*ion in 2000 with her poem "Vinegar", and in 2003 with "Conception". Furthermore, she was awarded prizes at the Manifold Art and Artists Poetry Compe*ion in 2003, at the Féile Filíochta International Poetry Compe*ion in 2005 in Ireland and at the Poetry on the Lake compe*ion also in 2005. Her short story “Ledra Street” was a runner-up in the Commonwealth Short Story Compe*ion (2001). The poems "The Butcher" and "The Tenderness of Miniature Shampoo Bottles" were shortlisted in the Plough Arts Centre Poetry Compe*ion (2003) and were displayed at the Centre in Devon, England, in January 2004. "And the Seven Dwarves" has been honoured in the Sixth Annual International Ultra-Short Compe*ion (2008–2009), while "Tell Me Words" has been commended in the Ninth Annual International Ultra-Short Compe*ion (2011–2012); events that are sponsored by The Binnacle at the University of Maine at Machias. Finally, “The Name” won in the unFold 2012 Poetry Garden Show compe*ion.

Interviews

• http://www.theshortreview.com/authors/NoraNadjarian.htm Archived 27 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine
• http://fictiondaily.org/author-interviews/nora-nadjarian/ Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine

Author Talk

• http://dailyspress.blogspot.com/2009/10/author-talk-michael-k-white-nora.html

Reference List

Bibliography

• Nora Nadjarian, Cleft in Twain (Nicosia: J. G. C*oulides & Son Ltd, 2003), Foreword.
• "Poetry (Cyprus)", Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English, ed. by Eugene Benson and L. W. Conolly, 1994, pp.:1243 – 1244.
• William Macfarlane, review of Nora Nadjarian, Girl, Wolf, Bones (2011), in Cadences 8 (2012), 110–111.